1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a system for generating an abstract display on the screen of a TV receiver, which display varies in timed relation to an audio signal derived from music or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of "psychedelic" lights are available which include electronic circuits for receiving an audio signal, either in acoustic form through a microphone, or via a direct electrical connection to a music source such as a phonograph, and which modulate a light display in timed relation to the changes in the audio signal. These lights provide an optical translation of the source and change color or intensity in timed relation to the beat, intensity or frequency content of the music.
In view of the wide availability of color television sets it has been proposed to provide converter circuits for picking up audio signals and use them to generate sets of signals which would modulate the chrominance and/or luminance circuits of color TV receivers to provide highly versatile equivalents of such psychedelic lights. U.S. Pat. No. 3,723,652 discloses such a system including circuitry for splitting an incoming audio signal into several frequency bands such as low frequencies, mid-range frequencies, and high frequencies, and using these signals to modulate the chrominance circuits on a color TV receiver.
These prior art systems have concentrated on producing a display intimately related to the content of the audio signal and while they may produce an aesthetically pleasing display with certain forms of music the displays produced with other types of music are often either too static or too disorganized to be aesthetically pleasing.
The saleability of psychedelic display generators for color TV receivers is of course a function of the degree to which their displays are aesthetically satisfying. The present invention broadly contemplates such a generator which provides an unusually satisfying display that the user can readily modify to produce forms which are pleasing.